30 June 2009
Ouagadougou — Reported measles infections and deaths are falling in Burkina Faso following nationwide vaccinations earlier this month, according to the Ministry of Health.
There were 1,007 measles infections and four deaths reported the week ending 26 June, one-fourth the numbers reported for the last week of April, according to Mété Bonkoungou, the Health Ministry's vaccine director.
Burkina Faso has reported 51,000 infections and 300 deaths since the beginning of 2009, the largest outbreak the country has seen in more than 10 years.
Bonkoungou told IRIN 3,677,000 children were vaccinated from 17 to 21 June - more than expected. "People rushed to get vaccinated because they see [the impact] of measles on their body versus polio, where there is more resistance to vaccination because the consequences are not as visible."
Measles first appears as a rash and if not properly treated can result in blindness, encephalitis - swelling of the brain - severe diarrhoea or pneumonia, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
More than 6,200 people were trained for the WHO-funded US$2.5-million campaign.
The Health Ministry is planning another measles vaccination campaign in 2010, said Bonkoungou.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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